Bill March - The Chosen One

[stef]

by Bill Starr

“Quite often, the degree of success that a person achieves in any endeavor in life is a result of being in the right place at the right time. Such was the case of Bill March, unquestionably one of the greatest and most popular Olympic lifters in the history of the sport. Had Bill grown up in the South, Midwest, or Northeast, his story would have been much different.”

Part I

“While Bill rather easily won three straight Seniors, 1964 was going to be different. This was an Olympic year and athletes in all sports always trained a great deal harder. Although there were no young lifters stepping up to challenge Bill, there were a couple of seasoned veterans that were making it clear that they could defeat him.”

Part II

“The Olympic Trials were held at the World’s Fair in Flushing, New York on August 21st and 22nd, 1964. The contest was held in a large, covered pavilion and admission was free. I have always believed that this was the greatest weightlifting meet in the history of American Olympic lifting.”

Part III

“While Bill rather easily won three straight Seniors, 1964 was going to be different. This was an Olympic year and athletes in all sports always trained a great deal harder. Although there were no young lifters stepping up to challenge Bill, there were a couple of seasoned veterans that were making it clear that they could defeat him.”

Part IV

“After the lifting competition, there was the Mr. Universe contest. This was the only official Mr. Universe at the time and was conducted by the Federation International Halterophile et Culturiste (FIHC). Past winners from the U.S. had been: John Grimek, Steve Stanko, Jim Park, Roy Hilligen, and Tommy Kono. After Bill March failed to total, Hoffman immediately entered him in the physique contest…”

Part V

“The odds against Bill making the squad in 1966 were staggering – maybe a thousand to one. For starters, he hadn’t played football since he was in high school and he was now 28 years old…”

[soycuadrado]

Thank you, thank you, thank you! Absolutely love these articles by Bill Starr about Golden Age powerhouses like Bill March. Very grateful to be reading this level of content by Bill Starr. Tell him I said THANK YOU!

[morbidlyfat]

Only ran across this when it hit the front page, but yeah, this is incredibly great. Hollywood should be lining up to option it, but there's no justice in the world.

[nevermind]

This is very informative! Thank you!

I would imagine then if York had only begun experimenting with the drugs, had no idea of effective dosing and were not using injectable Test Prop when that was also available, then the previous lifters in the early 50's and before were also not using.

It puts a nice ceiling on what is attainable naturally being able to see when it started and we can not get lost in all the lies of the modern age.

[ozzz169]

Thanks again for such great articles Mr. Starr. I love to learn the history of the sport and have also learned a great deal from your other articles and books. Anyone that has not read his pressing articles I would highly recommend them, his dip routine is great and I have increased my dip weight greatly (currently 110x5) and press is getting close to a body weight, which has been a long term goal for over a year, and hope to make it within another 6 months. Thanks again!